Two Signs of Christ's Return

Fred R. Coulter—June 13, 2009

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Why is there so much confusion concerning when Jesus will return? It's easy to say so before you come to the end of the time period, which is this: How many have heard, 'God gave man six-thousand years for doing his work and the Millennium is God's Sabbath'? All of you! In type, that may be a truism; however, nowhere in the Bible does it say God gave man 6,000 years. That is an interpretation.

I've mentioned this once before, but I need to mention it here. If you go by the most accurate chronology, going back to creation, that goes back to 4,025-4,024B.C. So, I received some correction from Betty Thomas, down in Texas, when I went down to Waco. We were sitting at the breakfast table one morning and she said, 'Fred, I'd like to ask you a question.' Okay, go. She said, 'Do you think that the chronology 4,025 is correct?' I said, Yeah, it's probably the most correct. Although there are some that go 4,004, that's Usher's chronology, many of you have heard of that. So she said, 'I would like you to subtract 4,025 from 6,000.' Why don't you do that, what do you come up with? 1975. I sat there and I said, 'You're right.' 1975 has now been way gone and didn't we believe in a 1975 scenario one time? Yes, indeed!

We've recently had a man say that he's one of the two witnesses. He's coming close to two-years-plus in his pronouncement. First he didn't want to tell us who the other witness was and then he finally had to admit it was his wife. She was probably the first witness. He's in the Church of God—supposedly. Remember, not everyone who's in the Church of God is really in the Church of God. The one's who are in the Church of God are the ones who have the Holy Spirit of God, not because you attend a service that is sponsored by a Church of God. There is a difference.

So, I had to say, 'You're right.' Years ago I did a sermon with charts going through the Scriptures, everything showing fairly conclusively six-thousand-years. But I was wrong.

• How do we know when Christ is going to return?
• How and when will Christ return?

I will reduce it down to two main things.

Let's first of all go back to where we always begin: Matt. 24. We have read this over and over every time we get a sermon on prophecy, which we're doing today.

Matthew 24: "And after going out… [out from the temple area] ...Jesus departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to point out the buildings of the temple. But Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here even a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.'" (vs 1-2).

That's why the area where the Mosque of Omar is not where the temple was. That's where the Fort Antonio was and that was Roman property. That's why those stones are not thrown down. Where the temple was, was south of that, and there is not a stone left. They're gone, some other building some place. So that happened.

Now v 3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him alone, saying, 'Tell us [#1]when shall these things be?.... We want to cover that today.] …And [#2]what shall be the sign of Your coming and [#3]of the completion of the age?'"

They wanted to know these three things, which tells you that many of the teachings of Jesus, which are not recorded here, He covered those quite often, so they wanted to know.

Verse 4: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Be on guard, so that no one deceives you.'" Very simple little statement, but how many have been deceived? I mean, think of it! Probably more people have been deceived in the name of Jesus, Who was supposed to lead to Truth… I suppose the other religions in the name of Buddha, Allah, or whatever, have led as many or more people astray as well. But nevertheless, all of those who claim to follow Jesus but don't are not Christian. That's going to make some upset, but that's true. You can reduce that down to a very simple thing concerning Passover.

• must be on the right date
• must be at the right time
• there must be foot-washing with it

Or as Jesus said, 'You have no part with Me!' How many does that eliminate? Almost all of them! They're deceived! The hardest deception is when you think you're right.

Verse 5: "For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ'; and they shall deceive many…. [we've seen that over and over again] …And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation… [Greek: 'ethnos'—meaning race against race] …and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. Now, all these things are the beginning of sorrows" (vs 5-8).

The skeptic will look at that and say, 'How do we know which war, where do you want to start? Have there not always been wars? Have there not always been famines? earthquakes? volcanoes? disturbed weather?' Yes!

Verse 9: "Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake."

Haven't Christians and those who profess the name of Jesus been killed down through the centuries since then? Yes! Was the end upon us? No! So, there must be something more than this. These are here; yes, those did happen.

Let's look at something very interesting concerning those who died for Jesus. I'm sure I've mentioned this in the past, but I'll mention it again, because I'm sure there are some people who have never heard of it. Let's read this very carefully concerning 'Mamma' Babylon in 'Roma.' No, that's in Babylon! All religions came out of Babylon! A lot of people like to point and say that this is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has a great part to do with it, but did you know Buddhism came out of Babylon in the 600sB.C.? Yes, it did! All the religions from about 600B.C. came out of Babylon with new stories about the ancient gods of the past. So this includes all religions.

Let me just mention: I did a sermon series called, Why God Hates Religion. I think you'll find it very interesting, but those back in New York heard that, and that's why they called and invited me to be on this radio program. That's June 26, 2009.

This depicts all the religions of the world of the great Babylon, of which one of the main characters today is the Roman Catholic Church. Remember, there is 'Mamma' Babylon;

Revelation 17:5: "…THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

Let's carefully analyze v 6: "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints…" Those are the ones who are martyred. They are put to death for what they believe.

Today there are people who are being killed because they profess the name of Jesus. But professing the name of Jesus does not necessarily mean that they are in a state of salvation with God. There are many people who believe in Jesus, would even die for Jesus. Didn't Peter, before he was converted say, 'Lord, I'm ready to go to the death, jail, and everything with You.'

"…and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus…." (v 6). There are two categories of those who die for Jesus:

• Those who are not converted, but profess His name, may have been deceived, but still believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but is not enough for salvation. That's enough for a start, and enough to qualify them for the second resurrection.

Here we have two categories of martyrs. There are a lot of people who were killed just because they professed the name of Jesus, which did not necessarily mean that they were converted and at martyrdom that sealed their salvation. So we have two:

• the ones who are the saints
• the ones who are the martyrs

Do you suppose, since God even knows whenever a sparrow falls, that God will remember that person, though not converted had the courage to die for Jesus? Yes, indeed! So, they'll be in the second resurrection, without a doubt.

Matthew 24:9: "Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake."

That has happened over and over again, and now we're seeing the cycle start again. Even threatening people down in San Diego for about ten days, that if you have a Bible study in your home, you better get this $10,000 use-permit or you can't have them. They said, 'All right, we're going to court.' Let's look at the county of San Diego's position—though they are dead wrong in what they said and backed off of it—they've had two major cults down there where the people have voluntarily committed suicide. So, they're very nervous with anything taking place in a home, rather than taking place in a church. Plus, I think there's an element there of not liking people who have anything to do with the Bible, because they think that they're going to be troublemakers, because a lot of people who claim Christ and the return of Christ and have the Bible, ended up being troublemakers, cults, but not all of them. Did you know that all of us who:

• keep the Sabbath
• believe in the Holy Days
• believe in Israel in prophecy
• believe in the return of Jesus Christ

we are suspects at Homeland Security, as terrorists! Yes, indeed! They didn't paint it with a broad brush, they dumped the bucket of paint on everybody. So, they backed off on that.

But we find that we're hated, the Bible is hated, because they hate Christ. Satan is stirring it up, because he hates Christ. This has happened over and over and over again.

The Israel of the Alps DVD, put out by the Seventh Day Adventists; a good one to get. You've heard of the Christians that were up in the Alps, kept the Word of God, the Waldensians, and so forth? The Seventh Day Adventists link themselves directly to them. I think you'll find it very interesting; they did a very good job with it. We  also  have a video: The Indestructible Book, which gives a short bibliography of the life of William Tyndale. When you watch that one on the life of William Tyndale, I don't know about you, but every time I see that I do not have a dry eye. That is so inspiring.

This has happened. The skeptic would say, that all of these things have been; how do we know that this is a sign of what is coming? What do we hear today? We've got war in Iraq, we've got war in Afghanistan, we have war in Darfur, Pakistan, rumors of war; the Israelis may bomb the Iranians, all of this!

• Where's the return of Jesus?
• When is it going to happen?'

Then he makes a couple of other statements, let's read them; v 10: "And then shall many be led into sin… [that's happened over and over again] …and shall betray one another… [that's happened over and over again] …and shall hate one another… [that's happened over and over again] …and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many" (vs 10-11)—that's happened over and over again.

So, how do we know? What is the key? Now this'll be a little different than the messages on 14 Things to Happen in Prophecy before the end comes.

Then He gives this warning, v 12: "And because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold…. [that's happened over and over again] …But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved." There are two endings:

• the end of your life
• the end of the age, if you live to get there

As I covered on the place of safety here some time ago, not everybody who thinks they're going to a place of safety is going to get there.

In Rev. 6 we see these things repeated in a little different way. This time it's the real thing, because this time it's just not something that happens, but it is something that Jesus initiates. The reason being, that He's the only One Who can open the seals, the seven seals, that are on the scroll that is written front and back.

Revelation 6:1: "And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer" (vs 1-2).

White pictures righteousness. A lot of people read this and say, 'Oh, that's Jesus; that's the Gospel going out.' Sure enough, Jesus does ride a white horse (Rev. 19). We'll just answer that question right now, because this is not Jesus in Rev. 6, this is the false Christ! This is the false religion! We can put another way: a false savior.

When Jesus gets on His white horse, and we're all given white horses, Revelation 19:11: "And I saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse… [it describes Christ] …and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. And His eyes were like a flame of fire… [Rev. 1] …and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no one knows except Him. And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of God" (vs 11-13). That's Christ!

 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Back here in Rev. 6, that is not Christ, that is the false Christ.

From this, and tying that together with Rev. 13, we can understand that there is a coming one-world religion and it's already in the works. To give you an example of how this ties together, look up ecumenism; go on the Vatican website and look up ecumenism there. Guess who just, after he left his office in Britain, converted to Catholicism? Tony Blair! Guess what his job was given to him, since he did that? He is one of the chief men going out seeking to bring religions together! There's another man recently converted to Catholicism. Anybody know who he is? Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, newly converted to Catholicism, which I anticipate that was a political move, rather than deep conversion. That's my own opinion, because you can't win the White House without the Catholic vote.

Now just to give you a guess who's running the government and where the roots go clear back to Rome, how many senators and congressmen do we have who are Catholics? One-hundred and sixty-one! How many in the legislatures in the various fifty states? How many governors? All of these bills that are being written, do you think that the senators and congressmen sit down to their little computers and say, 'Oh, yes, we have to have this bill, so we'll write it up'? They never even see it, they never even read it. Where do they come from? The answer is that all of the aides to the representatives and senators come mainly from Georgetown University, the highest Catholic institution in America. That's why we are moving away from the Constitution, because Catholics believe in canon law, not common law. What they do is give scholarships to the very bright students wherever they are, hopefully as many Catholics as possible. So, that takes care of that.

Let's talk about the judiciary. How about all of the judges in the various states? How about all of the various federal judges wherever they are? I don't know the number of Catholics, but there are a good number of them. Let's narrow down to the Supreme Court. There are five Catholics on the Supreme Court today (2009). Someone's going to say, 'Oh, you better be careful what you say.' Well, it's true; they're there. There may be six very shortly, because Sonja Sotomayor is bound to be confirmed; in spite of the huffing and puffing of some of the Republicans who are nothing more than political wimps.

That's why you cannot depend on government for salvation. They cannot solve anything. They don't even know how to be honest, let alone do anything right. That means there will be six on the Supreme Court, which is disproportionate to the population if the Catholics represent one-sixth of the population of United States.

How many have read the book, All Roads Lead to Rome? Their essential goal, as stated by this British writer, was to destroy the Church of England and to get a Catholic back on the throne in England, because they still have revenge for Henry VIII. Now they're getting close to it. They have destroyed the Church of England; that was one of their goals, it's gone! Another one of their goals: destroy Protestantism; it's going, going, almost gone. But you see, if you do these things, you never have a direct hand in it, you always use a third person.

Who's behind the scenes pulling the strings? I will say it is the shadowy government of the super-elite around the world who are all organized behind the green movement, and world government and world banking! Those things are coming.

A little aside from what we're doing here, but this shows with the white horse that there is going to be a dominance of religion first and then other things happen. That's what's happening. The one world religion: be nice, get along, go along, diversity, accept everybody's religion, regardless of your morals. That's what the first horse represents. That was out of the barn long ago.

Revelation 6:3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red… [that always symbolizes war] …and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth, and to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him" (vs 3-4). That has to signal when the Great Tribulation begins!

Let's see the one major thing that has to happen in prophecy before the end can come and before Jesus returns. When this happens, there's no time for anything.

Matthew 24:14: "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come."

We still don't know exactly how that's going to be done. That's why every Church of God has got to do its part, whatever it's doing. We can't leave it to the two witnesses. The worst thing in the world to say is, 'Oh, well, since the Churches of God are not doing it, let's leave it to the two witnesses.' If we do that, then Christ is going to say, 'Why didn't you? What were you supposed to do?' Exactly how that will be, we don't know, but He says it will be, so we understand that it's going to be.

"'…then shall the end come…." That's a key phrase. Let's see when the end begins. This tells us when the end begins, later we will see how Christ is going to return.

Verse 15: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place.…"

What does this require? Netanyahu says he wants to build the temple! You cannot have a Holy place unless you have a temple, reason being when Jesus said this He pointed to the temple. Also, the reason being is that there has to be a temple because Rev. 11 tells about the two witnesses and John was to measure the temple.

John measured the temple in vision. He was told leave out the outer court because that's given over to the Gentiles. So John, who is the final canonizer of the New Testament, is putting all of this together. He looks back some 28 years before, and he knows that Jerusalem was destroyed. He reads the Epistle of Paul, 2-Thess., which says about the 'man of sin, the son of perdition, who goes into the temple of God and proclaims that he is God and shows that he himself is God.' How's he going to go into a temple that doesn't exist? This was the quandary, which John faced.

This is why he inserted here, under inspiration of God. Notice, parenthetical statement—if you have a red-letter Bible, it won't be in red: "…(the one who reads, let him understand)" (v 15). John was saying, 'I'm putting this in here because I don't know, but the time will come when you will understand. There has to be the 'abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,' as defined by Paul in 2-Thess. 2; as defined by John in Rev. 13. That has to stand in the Holy place.

Verse 21: "For then… [what you want to do is connect the whenof v 15 and the then of v 21, because when you see that, then] …shall there be great tribulation…"

Christ cannot return until there is the abomination of desolation, which starts the whole thing in motion. The Great Tribulation begins with war, as we know from Dan. 11, from the Holy Land.

Let's go back to Rev. 6 and the second seal. When there is war—and you think about today, you think about how unprepared people are to live beyond—I mean, even if you are well prepared in times of trouble and difficulty—60-90 days max, if you're really prepared up the kazoo. When this begins, don't run down to the store in your area, because everything will be gone. There will long lines, there'll be fighting, there'll be riots. So, if you want to store a few things, you better do it now. But just don't set your heart on it, because it's not going to last you very long.

But the Great Tribulation starts here with the second seal, great sword over the fourth part of the earth "…to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him." Now here's what follows quickly:

Revelation 6:5: "And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a black horse; and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, 'A measure of wheat for a silver coin, and three measures of barley for a silver coin: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine.'" (vs 5-6)—because it's not going to be reproduced again for a while.

Immediately you have famine. That happens! You can see famine today over in Darfur. You can see those poor little kids, skin and bones, and flies in their eyes, and all over their bodies, and people walking like gaunt skeletons just trying to go find something to eat, and there's nothing but sand and desert and straw, and the enemy ready to shoot you, Muslims against Christians, supposedly. Those poor people are killed. Those are some of the martyrs for Christ. It's happened in other areas—it happened in Russia—and wherever there is war famine comes immediately. Especially in our society, we're all dependent on the store. What do you do? You go to the store and you buy what you need for a week or two weeks, and that's it! Do you have enough room to store up for a whole year? We don't have cupboards that big. It comes immediately.

Then what happens when famine comes? Verse 7: "And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a pale horse; and the name of the one sitting on it was Death, and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth" (vs 7-8).

They have had on the History Channel about the bubonic plague in the 14th century. That was something! That was really something! One-fourth of the people of Europe died because of the bubonic plague. It spread! A lot of people said, 'Oh, the Lord's coming! The Lord's coming! The Lord's coming!' Didn't come!

These follow in sequence: whenbegins in v 2, the when: the abomination is there; then also begins in v 3 where he goes out killing. That's the start of the Great Tribulation. Now we come to the fifth seal. We're going to see something very interesting, that the first five seals represent men against men. This is all designed by God and part of what God does in fulfilling the prophecies, these are all men against men. So let's read the fifth seal:

Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, Holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time, yet, until it be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren also would be killed, just as they had been" (vs 9-11).

This is telling a future martyrdom that is going to be unlike any martyrdom that has happened. Why? Because at the end-time there will be more true Christians scattered everywhere in the world than at any time in the history of the Church! What is going to be the distinguishing feature about all of them, along with some who profess the name of Jesus, what is it they will refuse to do? To receive the mark of the beast! They'll be easy to find. They can find you anywhere!

I had a little work done on my car, took it down to the Infinity dealer, and I told them what my problem was. He went out and got the number on the car, and sat down at the computer and says, 'Oh, you're Fred Coulter, you live at….' Every service that is done to my car at the Infinity dealer goes right in, and they know everything that is done. I said to myself, 'Whoa!' I wouldn't mind sitting there telling him my name and address and all this sort of stuff, but it's all right there.

If you want to see my house from Google, you punch in my home address. Jim Hyles did that to me. He brought it up to me one day and he said, 'Fred, you don't have any place to hide.' There's a Google photo of my house. If you have a cell phone, they can find you, anywhere you are. So, anyone who thinks the mark of the beast is Sunday-keeping is, 'Wooooo.' It's going to be in the right hand; and by the way, they're working on tattoos that are programmable. So, there are a lot of things to think about.

Here's the final martyrdom. Based upon Matt. 24, 'when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the Holy place, then shall be Great Tribulation.' The events then follow, parallel in Rev. 6:3-11. All of this is man against man, nation against nation, people against people. Now we'll find out in just a little bit the timeframe when we come to the end of the fifth seal, the beginning of the sixth seal. Now something else is going to happen!

(go to the next track)

When Jesus appears it's going to be entirely different. What we are going to see is that Jesus gives a warning that He is not going to come as a man comes. Now we begin to get into some interesting things concerning: When will Jesus return?

The first one is the abomination of desolation!

Matthew 24:22—Jesus says: "And if those days were not limited…" What did God limit the end time to? Three and a half years, verified in many different places of time, times and half a times (Dan. 12).

"…there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be limited" (v 22). The elect are those who have the Spirit of God. Jesus gives a warning, because they're going to be expecting Christ to return at any time. But the world is looking for a man, and the one that's going to show up is the beast. He's going to say, 'I am God. Come to Jerusalem and see me.' or 'Look on television and watch me.'

Jesus said, v 23: "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or, 'He is there,' do not believe it. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have foretold it to you. Therefore, if they say to you, 'Come and see! He is in the wilderness"; do not go forth. 'Come and see! He is in the secret chambers'; do not believe it" (vs 23-26)—because His coming is going to be entirely different!

When Christ begins to notify the world He's coming again, there is going to be no mistake, because it's not going to be done by a man on earth. It's not going to be preached by a preacher to say, 'Oh, look, there's Christ.' It's going to be Jesus Christ Himself Who will make Himself known! No man is going to have anything to do with this.

Revelation 6:12: "And when He [Jesus] opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind" (vs 12-13).

That's going to be an awesome thing to see. Verse 14 is unmistakable; and we will see in just a little bit, this is two years into the Tribulation, and I'll show you the place where it says that it's about two years. But notice what happens:

Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up…" This is startling! This is from God! Nothing like this has ever happened before! Whether it's daytime where you are, or nighttime where you are, whenever this happens, it's going to be startling! The heavens are going to roll back! That's going to be something! Christ is going to do this.

"…and every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (v 14). So there was another great earthquake.

What does it say in the Old Testament? Haggai 2 says, 'I'm going to shake the heavens; I'm going to shake the earth, the sea, and the land.' So does Isa. 2; 24 & 13.

Notice the reaction, v 15: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to 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" (vs 15-16).

• Why are they going to say this?
• What is going to happen?
• What are they going to see?

Verse 17: "Because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?" (v 17). That's their initial reaction, but remember, they're all going to be like Pharaoh.

• What did Pharaoh do with every miracle and plague that came?
• Hardened his heart and still fought against God!
• What are they going to see?
• How are they going to know that this is from God?
• Because there's going to be a sign in heaven that will be absolutely undeniable!

It's not going to be a Goodyear blimp flying around saying, 'The Lord is coming.'

Matthew 24:26: "Therefore, if they say to you, "Come and see! He is in the wilderness"; do not go forth. "Come and see! He is in the secret chambers"; do not believe it. For as the light of day" (vs 26-27).

The King James says 'lightning.' But it doesn't mean lightning as we know lighting, because lightning can go from the clouds down, from the earth up, it can go east, it can go west, it can go north, it can go south, it could go at any angle. As a matter of fact, when you see a demonstration from the old Tesla machine of making lightning out of electricity, it goes in every direction. But here's something that lightning does not do.

"…which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west… [What does that? The sun!] …so also shall the coming of the Son of man be'" (v 27).

The second one is the heavens roll back as a scroll!

What do they see? They look out there, the heavens roll back, and now they see a new sun, somewhere out there in the solar system! How far out we don't know. That's going to be startling. At first they're going to say, 'Oh, this is God, this is the Lamb! Save us from all of this!' But, as we're going to see, right after this happens, then there's going to be a calm. What happens in any disaster when there is a calm? Men have time to re-think it and then they deny it!

Verse 29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days… [What tribulation? Notice it doesn't say great tribulation, but 'tribulation of those days.' I will show you in just a few minutes, that's the tribulation against the twelve tribes of Israel, but the Great Tribulation continues on from there, but not against Israel. Just like when the plagues reached a certain point in Egypt, they didn't come near the houses of the children of Israel who lived in Goshen. Now we'll see this, and it will all become plain in just a minute.

Verse 29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days… [which is the final martyrdom] …the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken…. [that's because it rolls back as a scroll] …And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…" (vs 29-30).

What is the sign of the Son of man in heaven? That new sun that is out there, and it's going to stay and come closer to the earth.

Now think of this: Christ shows the sign of His coming out there, like the sun, so He's got to get from that place to the clouds above the earth. He's got to get from there to here.

• How long does that take?
• What is going to happen?

We can deduce this and we'll see here in just a minute. Because the resurrection does not take place then, but it takes place a little later when He's in the clouds. This is a warning to the whole world, so the second one is the whole world is going to be warned by Christ Himself that He is coming to give as many as will repent a chance to repent, because God is interested in repentance!

After all this happened, heavens rolled back as a scroll, a new sun appears in the heavens, the sign of the Son of man; all of these heavenly signs occur, all of a sudden a great stillness.

Revelation 7:1 "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree." A great calm! Everyone's going to think, 'Whew! This is over!'

Verse 2: "Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to damage the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads'" (vs 2-3).

What does sealing mean? To receive the Holy Spirit! This will also solve another great difficulty in interpretation for people, which is this. All of you who have the Holy Spirit today have been sealed already! Therefore, none of us can be the 144,000. So, if a minister tells you, 'There're only going to be 144,000 saved and if you're not in this church with me, you're not going to be part of the 144,000'—he's a liar, get up and walk out.

Ephesians 1:13: "In Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (vs 13-14).

So, for these people to be sealed means they receive salvation. In this case, God chooses to do it by the hand of a mighty angel. Why? Well, there aren't very many ministers out there running around baptizing! Who are these? They're exactly who they say they are!

Revelation 7:4: And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel"—from the physical children of Israel.

What do they see that leads them to repentance? When they see the heavens rolled back as a scroll and sign of the Son of man in heaven, they know it's God. Being in captivity, wherever they may be in captivity, they know that the hand of God has been dealing with them and they repent. It starts out with the tribe of Judah, because God said He would save the tribe of Judah first (Zech, 12). Then it lists all of them.

Then we come down a little further here to v 9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number, out of every nation and tribe and people and language…"

Then it shows their ultimate destination is what? Salvation, because the vision shows them before the throne of God; however, they don't get to the throne of God until the resurrection! You can't get to the throne of God until you've been resurrected. But this shows they have been saved, been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, and they will be before the throne of God at the resurrection not before. Dan is not mentioned among the twelve tribes because it says in Gen. 49 Dan will wait for his salvation.

After they're there it shows them before the throne of God and everything. So what does this also say, what does this also prove in sequence that is true in the Bible? To the Jew first, begins with Judah! And to the Gentile second! God is true all the way through.

Verse 13: "And one of the elders answered and said to me, 'These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?' Then I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'They are the ones who have come out of the Great Tribulation; and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb" (vs 13-14).

When do they come out of Great Tribulation, the children of Israel? Let's answer that question and this will also give us a timeframe of approximately when this event occurs.

Let's go back to Hosea 5:10: "The rulers of Judah were like those who move a border; I will pour out My wrath upon them like water. Ephraim is crushed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after vanity. Therefore, I am as a moth to Ephraim, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to King Contentious. Yet, he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound, for I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a strong lion to the house of Judah…." (vs 10-14). This shows Ephraim being the ten tribes; Judah being the Levites and Benjamin.

"…I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him" (v 14)—no man! Who does the rescuing? God! This is God saying:

Verse 15: "I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me earnestly."

Here is Israel's response to God when they come to repentance; Hosea 6:1: "Come and let us return to the LORD…" What makes them do that? When they see the sign in heaven, when the heavens roll back as a scroll and see the sign of the Son of man! They say, 'Oh, this is of God. Let's return to God.'

"…for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up…. [v 2 gives us a timeframe]: …After two days…" (vs 1-2). A day in fulfillment in prophecy is one year, so two days is two years. Out of three and a half years, how much time is left? Year and a half!

"…He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight" (v 3). That's when the 144,000 are sealed, the beginning of the third year.

Right after the heavens are opened, the sign of the Son of man appears, the stars from heaven fall, all of those things take place. The twelve tribes, who are being punished by God repent; great innumerable multitude repent. And during this time of repentance there is a great stillness. Now let's get a timeframe:

Rev. 7 ties in with Pentecost, so these are the last harvest of God represented by Pentecost and the 50th day. So, this has to be the next to the last Pentecost. You go from Pentecost to Pentecost is one year.

In Matt. 20 you read the parable of the laborers, where in the morning the master of the vineyard went down and hired men to go work in the vineyard. He said, 'I'll pay you a coin.' And he went down again later, and he went down four times altogether and finally he came at the 11th-hour and there were still those who weren't hired. He said, 'Go work in my vineyard and I'll pay you what's right.' He paid them beginning with the last to the first. Remember the moral of the parable? He gave the ones who worked last a silver coin and the other ones said, 'Well, hey, we've been here all day in the heat of the day.' He said, 'You agreed, didn't you?' This is a parable of receiving eternal life as pictured by the coin, though they are the workers of the last hour.

These who are saved on this Pentecost, and it's one year to the resurrection, are the ones who are saved in the last year. These are the last ones to be saved to be in the first resurrection. Now we have a year and a half left. We don't know how much time there is from the opening of that sixth seal, but that has to be just a short time before Pentecost, if Rev. 7 happens on the next to the last Pentecost, maybe a couple days just before.

Rev. 8 changes the whole complex again. Remember the opening of the sixth seal is by Christ. He shows Himself, shows the sign of the Son of man, this is done by God, no man is involved in it. Now everything changes. I don't know if we go the full four months from Pentecost to Trumpets, but I suppose it's within the realm of possibility, because it's very quiet here right after the sixth seal has happened.

Revelation 8:1: "Now, when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour."

We don't know how long that is, we don't know how long the other time was, or whatever, but if we put it in the framework of the Holy Days, is this the Trumpets after that Pentecost? Could be! We could assume to say it is, but we can't be dogmatically sure.

Verse 2: "Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the throne (vs 1-3).

Here the prayers are still going up. Who's doing praying? Can't you imagine the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude:

• praying every day?
• fervently every day?
• helping each other every day?

You can just imagine all of that going on.

What do you think about those who are in the place of safety, are they not praying every day? They're probably over there feeling all of this, but no television in caves. If it's in Petra, you aren't going to know anything. At least you'll be there. It won't be comfortable, but it will be certainly be far more comfortable than what the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude went through in the Tribulation.

So the Tribulation against Israel ends after two years. Now that that is done, now the rest of the Tribulation comes against the rest of the world in great fury. Now God deals directly from heaven against men and against demons!

Verse 4: "And the smoke of the incense went up before God from the hand of the angel, ascending with the prayers of the saints. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake" (vs 4-5).

As you read through the book of Revelation, there are many earthquakes. Just like in southern California and northern California, we know there are many earthquakes.

Verse 6: "Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound their trumpets. And the first angel sounded his trumpet; and there was hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was cast upon the earth; and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up" (vs 6-7). Now we're talking about really mass things going on, on the earth.

Verse 8: "Then the second angel sounded his trumpet; and there was cast into the sea as it were a great mountain burning with fire, and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the living creatures that were in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed" (vs 8-9).

Why? Great waves! What are you going to do with a 150-foot wave coming against even those big ships? Boom! Like little toys!

Verse 10: "And the third angel sounded his trumpet, and there fell out of heaven a great star, burning like a lamp; and it fell on a third of the rivers, and on the fountains of waters. Now, the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from drinking the waters because they were made bitter" (vs 10-11).

Now this is something! Let me just tell you this, brethren, what I have learned in seeing the fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible is this: God never, barely fulfills them. He always fulfills them to the maximum! So, this is something!

Verse12: "Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet; and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars; so that a third of them were darkened; and a third part of the day did not shine, and likewise a third part of the night."

You don't know what's night, you don't know what's day, you don't know when sunrise is, you don't know when sunset is, etc. If you think that's bad, then…. I think that the first four come: Boom! Boom! Boom! one right after another. It doesn't take very long at all. Just like the opening of the first five seals in Rev. 6, does not take very long; they come one right after the other.

Verse 13: "And I looked; and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe to those who are dwelling on the earth, because of the voices of the remaining trumpets of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets'" (vs 12-13). Then Satan counterattacks! God gives him permission!

Revelation 9:1: "And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet; and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and there was given to him the key to the bottomless abyss…. [that's where the demons are imprisoned] …And he opened the bottomless abyss; and there went up smoke from the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power" (vs 1-3).

Here is the demonic weapon of great proportions, going to afflict men as if they're stricken by scorpions, and it says it'll be five months that that will happen. That also gives us another timeframe.

Now after that is done, v 11: "And they have over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the name he has in Greek is Apollyon." That's Satan the devil! So, now this is angels of God against Satan and the demons, and men. Now can you think how emboldened they would be in power, the men would be, having this access to demons?

Now if you ever have a chance watch on the History Channel the Third Reich and the Occult. Or watch things on the Internet, you can find more substantiation of things like this. Think about where the technology is going, where they can actually make artificial flies that will go into a room and will transmit sound back a long distance, so you can spy on your enemy, and they never know it. They also have a GPS dust—POOF! Now the global satellite can follow you wherever you go. That's why we better trust in God!

• there's no place you're going to hide
• there's no place you're going to go
• there is nothing you can do to save yourself

Only God can!

Verse 12: "The first woe is past. Behold, after these things two more woes are still to come. And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God; and it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels who are bound in the great River Euphrates.'" (vs 12-14).

Now how's that for an existence? Being bound in the River Euphrates? punishment for demons? All of a sudden they're loose.

Verse 15: "Then the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were loosed, so that they might kill a third of men; and the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred thousand thousand…" (vs 12-16).

A vast army of 200-million. Right now we are seeing China develop. You've all heard of the balance of payments problems we have with the Chinese holding $2.6-7-trillion worth of our debt, or more. They know they can't sell it and they know that they have to do something with it. So let me tell you what they are doing, very clever, because in order to have an army of 200-million, China and all of Southeast Asia and all of the countries going over toward the Holy Land—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, all of those 'stans' that are in southern Russia, and so forth—you've got to have prosperity before you can equip an army. An army of 200-million! Now if you need five civilians to support every soldier, that's 1-billion people minimum. If you need ten people, it's 2-billion. So, you've got China with 1.6-billion. You've got India with 1.2-billion. You probably have Southeast Asia with 600-million, all the countries combined. The only place in the world you can get that kind of manpower.

But before you can have those armies, you've got to have an economy come up and developed to supply them; to get it ready. What do you do when you have economic downturn? You prepare for that thing! This is what they are doing. Eventually they will use the money to develop the armies, but they're taking those treasury assets that they have, or those treasury notes.

If you have a note for 1.6-trillion, that's an asset. They know they can't sell them back to us, they know if they sell them on the market that they're going to have to discount them to sell them. What they have decided to do is this: take that 1.6-trillion dollars and use it as an asset so they can back up their own currency, called the yuan, and lend the yuan to other nations and make them obligated to China. So where are they going? Darfur, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria! They are taking over the former British Empire, with United States dollars backing up their yuan. And the way they're also making trade is by bartering. We'll sell you so many clothes and tennis shoes, and other goods, if you will give us oil.

Now they're beginning to control the oil fields in Niger, and they're not using any of the citizens of Niger for labor, they're bringing in Asians from Southeast Asia who work for about $200 a month. China is going to become big and mammoth.

One other thing about China, you're going to hear a lot about 2012 and the Mayan calendar, you've probably already heard about that. It isn't going to happen the way they say; not going to happen. But what is going to happen in China in 2012? The biggest dam in the world is going to be opened, the one on the Yangtze River, and that's going to make China a real powerhouse!

One other thing about China, while we're talking about the army of 200-million, and it shows the tremendous weapons that they have there: China is not going to be aggressive. They are going to let everyone fight each other and then they will come in and pick up the pieces. China will not commit troops until they think they can win.

Verse 17: "And so, I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, who had fiery breastplates, even like jacinth and brimstone. And the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and fire and smoke and brimstone shoot out of their mouths."

It seems kind of like you're looking at some of the carvings and paintings in China, the fiery dragon with the head of a lion, and so forth.

Verse 18: "By these three a third of men were killed: by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that shoot out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouths; for their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they inflict wounds. But the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands…" (vs 18-20).

Men still survive all of this, imagine that! What does it take for some people to repent?

"…that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which do not have the power to see, nor to hear, nor to walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thievery" (vs 20-21).

So to sum it all up the two things to show for sure when Christ is returning is:

• The abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.
• When the heavens are rolled back like a scroll and the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven.

But what we are talking about are the things right at the end. There are other signs that lead up to it!

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 24:1-9
• Revelation 17:5-6
• Matthew 24:9-12
• Revelation 6:1-2
• Revelation 19:11-13
• Revelation 6:1-4
• Matthew 24:14-15, 21
• Revelation 6:5-11
• Matthew 24:22-26
• Revelation 6:12-17
• Matthew 24:26-27, 29-30
• Revelation 7:1-3
• Ephesians 1:13-14
• Revelation 7:4, 9, 13-14
• Hosea 5:10-15
• Hosea 6:1-3
• Revelation 8:1-13
• Revelation 9:1-3, 11-21

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 17:5
• Revelation 1, 13, 11
• 2-Thessalonnians 2
• Daniel 11, 12
• Haggai 2
• Isaiah 2, 24, 13
• Zechariah 12
• Genesis 49
• Matthew 20

Also referenced:

• Sermon Series: Why God Hates Religion
• Sermon: 14 Things to happen in Prophecy
• Videos:
  • Israel of the Alps by the Seventh Day Adventists
  • The Indestructible Book
• Books: All Roads Lead to Rome? by Michael De Semlyen

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 7-3-09
Formatted: bo—2/18/18